I remember words being whispered, promises made, the weight of this thing unknowable back then.

I remember being told it is a choice, it is a choice to love someone. You must choose to remain, to hold strong, to fight it out, you have to choose to remember their smile when all you see is loss and doubt, you have to choose to stay. It is a choice.

And I remember thinking this is no choice, these butterflies that pound, this heart that beats, this hand that fits in yours. This is no choice.

We grew around each other, like knotted roots living deep from the ground. Place your hand to earth and you can hear us breathe, in out in out, sometimes gentle, sometimes harsh. Your world became mine, mine became yours, your tears your fears your love and loss and hope became mine, mine became yours.

So I choose to remember the wind swept memories, the hard fought cavalcade of events, the starlit motorway, the illuminated blue with clouds queueing up to sway along, standing strong. I choose you. Ten years on, and I choose you.